


Pleasure is My Business

by dralexreid



Series: Dr Piper Bishop [22]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27059257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dralexreid/pseuds/dralexreid
Summary: 3 men are dead and Piper is spiralling with guilt. Meanwhile, Spencer struggles to come to terms with his feelings for a co-worker.
Relationships: Dr Spencer Reid/Dr Piper Bishop
Series: Dr Piper Bishop [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972852
Kudos: 26





	Pleasure is My Business

Piper paced in the penthouse while Spencer watched her. Three men were dead. Images flashed in her mind. A man stripped to his briefs, strapped to furniture, duck tape stuck to his mouth, lipstick etching Xs on both eyes. “Piper…” His tone was placating, 

“No. Someone else is dead and it’s—”

“It’s not your fault, Pipes.” She whirled around to face him.

“Isn’t it? It’s our responsibility to protect these people. Except people are dying and for the life of me, I can’t figure it out.” She breathed in deeply, trying not to cry. She walked out onto the balcony, gazing down at the people below.

“Sonder.” Piper looked at Spencer lean against the railing next to her, her honey-brown eyes falling to his amber ones. “The realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” Piper smiled softly. _Only he could do that._ “We’ll figure it out. As a team. Because that’s how we work best.” Piper closed her eyes, letting the wind whip at her hair. For just a moment, Spencer caught the exact snapshot of serenity, memorising it before it was over. She breathed in deeply then turned around to face Spencer, determination etched on her face.

“Can we listen to the audio?”

They huddled next to Piper’s laptop, listening intently to the unsub’s voice. “Her use of the word whore to address Hotch is interesting,” Spencer noted, meeting her eyes. Her face was only inches away from him and he caught a whiff of lavender. Suddenly, all his thoughts flew out of his brain, replaced by the urgent need to kiss her, unable to stop his gaze falling to her lips which transformed into a frail smile as though it could crack at any minute.

“To say the least. I mean who looks at Hotch and goes, that’s a whore.” Spencer snorted quietly, the moment shattered.

“I meant that it suggests she’s trying to disassociate herself from her actions.”

“Except she’s become more personal with the murders. She’s changed her MO from poison to a gun.” Spencer nodded. “And she changed her victimology. Trent Rabner was faithful to his wife until she died. They didn’t have kids.”

“Her whole justification for who’s worth killing and who isn’t is gone. She’s obviously devolving,” Spencer noted, leaning back on the plush sofa.

“This is going to get ugly. She could go on a spree and take out anyone she sees as a target,” Piper stated, noticing the slight glaze over Spencer's eyes and the tiniest wrinkle on his forehead. "What are you thinking?"

“The purity ring Emily found… she said it was tiny?”

“Only a little girl could wear it. She wouldn’t buy that for herself. It was a gift.”

“Maybe she was given it by her father.”

“Well, if her father was anything like these CEOs, he probably walked out on her, too.” Spencer got up, starting to pace and Piper leaned back against the couch as she watched.

“Ok, so, you’re rich, you decide to start sleeping with men who are like your father to get back at him. How do you go about finding clients?”

“Could she have started with the service?”

“She wouldn’t need to. Remember the madam said that she trains these girls how to act around these men? This unsub already knows how to do that.”

“She said something else, too. She said that your client list was like your 401k. You sell it when you retire. So maybe our unsub bought her client list from another call girl.”

“It makes sense. They’re expensive names. Only someone who came from money could afford it.” Piper grabbed her cell to call Hotch, updating him on the new profile. She put the cell back in her pocket.

“Hotch will give us the address when he gets it from Daniels. Coffee?” The two packed their things and went downstairs to the café across the street.

If not for the looming threat of murders, Piper would have noted that it was a beautiful day. The sunshine warmed her from head to toe and she watched the little boy and girl running after each other across the street. The barista moved over to them, placing down two lattes and a napkin with a number in front of Piper. He flashed her a smile and Piper smiled back awkwardly, chuckling softly as he walked away, oblivious to Spencer's obvious jealousy. "Well, are you gonna call him?" Piper laughed openly this time and if he wasn't so angry, he would've just stared at her. "It's a serious question."

"Spence, he's a barista in Dallas. Sure, he's cute, but look at him. His fingernails are bitten down which means he probably juggles multiple jobs, he doesn't know a thing about me and still gave me his number and he did it in front of you. You don't have to be a profiler to realise that is just asking for heartbreak." Piper smiled into her coffee and instantly his anger dissipated. "Can we please talk about something else?"

He could do it here, right now. Get everything off his chest and tell her that he cared about her more than anything else in the world, that he would give up anything to protect her smile and that when she laughed he felt weightless, that these moments where the sunshine painted her hair gold and humour glinting in her eyes were worth more than catching any unsub. Instead, he told her how Star Trek had very limited scientific inaccuracies and despite not having watched a single episode herself, she clung to every word.


End file.
